Sharisse Stephenson

From ADA violations to taxpayer waste, Virginia keeps daring someone to hold it accountable. When the Real Housewives line “Who’s gonna check me, boo?”  first hit TV, it was shade — a reminder of who held power in the room. But the more I dig into Virginia’s record on disability rights, the more I realize that’s exactly how the Commonwealth operates. Every time the ADA comes knocking. Every time a person with a disability asks for something basic. Every time taxpayers demand accountability....

In everyday life, the rules are simple. If you say something that’s factually untrue — and you know it’s untrue — that’s a lie. But in the courtroom? Different rules apply. The Language Game I’ve been representing myself pro se  against a powerful institution. In that process, opposing counsel filed statements that were, by any ordinary definition, false. Not debatable. Not opinion. Factually untrue and provably so. Out in the real world, we’d call that what it is: lying. But inside the legal...

Medicine has been the central part of my identity for nearly my entire adult life. I’ve never had a season when I wasn’t working, when I wasn’t practicing, when I wasn’t caring for patients. Healing wasn’t just my career — it was my calling. Then I spoke up about patient safety. And retaliation followed. I was forced onto leave I didn’t ask for and didn’t want. My ability to practice medicine — the very thing that gave my life meaning — was taken from me. The people who retaliated thought...